University City

Danny Wicentowski conducted lots of different interviews for his latest Riverfront Times cover story digging into the status of a proposed $190 million Novus redevelopment near Interstate 170 and Olive Boulevard. The same word — limbo — kept popping up in his conversations with various sources, as he mentions in his piece.

The proposed development was publicly unveiled more than a year ago. Yet residents and business owners in the path of the Costco-focused "University Place" are still waiting to find out whether it's definitely moving forward. That's left their future in the neighborhood uncertain.

On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Sarah Fenske talked with Wicentowski about his reporting on the saga. The conversation also included comments from longtime U City homeowner Letha Baptiste, who has thus far declined to accept Novus’ offer of an option contract on her house.

As the University City City Council decides whether to pass a proposal to redevelop a section of the St. Louis region’s “unofficial” Chinatown, business owners who would be displaced are deciding whether to begin relocating.

The city council had planned to vote in January on Webster Groves-based Novus Development plans to redevelop the area at Olive Boulevard and Interstate 170 — often referred to as Olive Link.

But the proposal returned to negotiations in February after a University City resident found a roughly $24 million miscalculation in the development’s projected sales-tax revenue. The real estate developer’s plans include building a big-box store — rumored to be a Costco — luxury apartments and a senior living facility.

The University City Tax Increment Financing commission approved a proposal Thursday that would release millions of dollars in money for development in the 3rd Ward. The commission voted 10-2 in favor of the financing plan.

But residents remained split on how the city should bring those improvements to fruition.

Much of the redevelopment proposal hinges on the first phase of the plan secured by local company Novus Development. The plans would bring big box retail and high-end living to a location near Interstate 170 and Olive Boulevard.

St. Louis once had a thriving hub for Chinese immigrants moving to the city. Historical records show in 1894 there were about 1,000 people of Chinese heritage living in St. Louis, many of whom had moved to the region from California in the middle part of the century.

A St. Louis Public Radio listener wanted to know how so many Chinese businesses came to exist at Olive Boulevard near Interstate 170 in University City. The listener also wanted to know why hasn’t there been more expansion of Asian businesses there.

The Missouri Arts Council is honoring three St. Louisans and one local hot spot with its 2018 annual awards.

The council chose Solomon Thurman for its Individual Artist award. Thurman is perhaps best known for a piece air travelers see every day: the 51-foot-long “Black Americans in Flight” mural at St. Louis’ Lambert International Airport. He created the work in 1990 with his mentor, the late Spencer Taylor.

As tensions rise in the Old City of Jerusalem, hundreds of people gathered on Delmar Boulevard in University City Sunday evening to show their support — some for Palestinians and others for the Israeli government.

Executive director Anita Feigenbaum is standing in the rain, amid repaired headstones at Chesed Shel Emeth, the historic Jewish cemetery in University City that made international headlines last February after vandals knocked over 154 grave markers.

“Starting here, you would just see rows knocked down,’’ Feigenbaum said, pointing from beneath her umbrella. “There’s an example of a monument that was totally knocked down. And broken.”

Fair housing advocates in University City are planning to bring back a bill the City Council killed this week. The proposal would have protected people who use Section 8 vouchers from discrimination.

Had it passed, the bill would have made the municipality the second in the St. Louis region to ban housing discrimination based on a renter’s source of income.

“We’re disappointed,” said Glenn Burleigh, a community engagement specialist at the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council who helped create the bill. "University City has always touted itself as being extremely progressive and pushing forward toward integration, [but] has not taken the charge from the Ferguson Commission and helped moved us forward here.”

Another busy intersection in the Delmar Loop will be shut down starting Monday for Loop Trolley construction. More than 85 percent of the track for the project has been installed, but traffic won’t be allowed at Skinker and Delmar boulevards for at least the next 12 days.

Updated as story develops: St. Louis County’s municipal elections got off to a rocky start on Tuesday, with many polling places quickly running out of ballots. An appeals court extended voting until 9 p.m., but the decision came late. Shortly after 5 p.m., Circuit Judge Maura B. McShane denied a request to extend voting. In a hand-written order, the presiding judge in the county said "the court denies petitioners' request and doesn't believe it has authority to extend the hours."

In an email, Eric Fey, Democratic director of the St. Louis County Board of Elections, said, "Any ballots cast after 7:00 pm as a result of the court order will not be counted tonight."

A University City preservationist group called Heritage Sites Protection Initiative handed over petitions to the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners last week with what it hopes to be enough signatures to take its cause off the streets and front porches of U. City and onto the ballot in April 2016.

The initiative wants to beef up protection for seven historic structures in this inner-ring community.

When Edward Gardner Lewis purchased the land that would become University City at the turn of the twentieth century, there wasn't much in the area beyond an amusement park, a race track and the loop of the trolley from which Delmar Loop gets its name. But he had a vision for a magazine empire and needed space to expand his printing presses. He built an iconic octagonal building for his headquarters overlooking the street car line and in view of the site of the upcoming 1904 World's Fair. From there, a bustling street of businesses grew, full of places to eat, shop and have a good time.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: When you think of someone responsible for starting a community outreach program, public speak out sessions with fire fighters, police chiefs, city officials, superintendents and youth engagement events, a seasoned campaign worker with years of invaluable experience is likely to come to mind.

A former lawyer in St. Louis County is going to prison after embezzling nearly $500,000 from dozens of clients.

The U.S. Attorney's office says 53-year-old Jonathan McKee was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison. He pleaded guilty in March to one felony count of mail fraud.

McKee had a general law practice in University City. Prosecutors said that between 2007 and 2011, he kept more than $495,000 in settlement money from insurance companies that should have gone to about 87 clients.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 7, 2012 - "Express Yourself, Community Civility And Compassion," a collaborative art show running from Aug. 4-24, features a blend of old (over 55) and young (16-21) artists. The idea is to cross generations, having artists work together to explore themes of community, civility and compassion via a variety of media.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 6, 2012 - After University City officials voted last year to scrap a bill aimed at controlling crowds in the Delmar Loop, Mayor Shelley Welsch said two new groups, one local and one regional, were needed to address issues involving youth in the Loop and the metropolitan area.

City officials are celebrating the reopening of the C Concourse at Lambert St. Louis International Airport today.

The concourse has been closed since April 22 of last year when a tornado hit causing significant damage.

The concourse is new and improved according to director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge with brighter ceilings, new lighting and new restrooms among the improvements. Hamm-Niebruegge recalls the evening the tornado hit.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, June 7, 2011 - In a move that caught the audience by surprise, University City officials voted unanimously Monday night to scrap a controversial bill aimed at controlling crowds in the Loop.

A light earthquake shook parts of Missouri and souther Illinois early this morning. The United States Geological Service says the 4.2 magnitude earthquake was centered about 14 miles east of Sullivan in Franklin County. Sullivan is about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis.

The earthquake, which was 3.2 miles deep hit about 3:10 a.m. The USGS says the temblor was felt as far west as Columbia, Mo., and as far east as Carbondale, Ill.